Speak Up

 I don’t know how many of you have read, or have heard of, the children’s book the Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen. It is about about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes made out of the finest cloth money can by and the very vane Emperor who gives them the money to buy that cloth. However, the two weavers don’t spend the money on the cloth so they come up with a rather clever plan.
They convince the Emperor and everyone around him that the cloth is invisible to those who are unfit for their position, stupid, or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes everyone acts as though they can see the clothes, except for a child who cries out "But he isn't wearing anything at all!” Okay, what does this have to with anything horse related? Well I’m about to explain that.
  I think we oftentimes have Emperor’s New Clothes syndrome in the horse world. We are sometimes convinced by people in our industry that we should see things a certain way and do things a certain way. They convince some of us if we don’t do that it’s because we are not smart enough or savvy enough to understand what they are doing. Not wanting to look foolish, people often go along without questioning what they are being asked to do or what they are seeing - which can lead to problems for the horse and the human.
  For example, there has been a real trend lately of people standing on the their horse’s back which (unless you have a trick saddle, are a trained trick rider and your horse is trained for trick riding) could very well get you hurt, but nobody seems to want to say that to those people standing on the back of their horses. In other words - let’s not tell the Emperor he is naked, because we might look as if we are not smart enough to understand why people are doing this.
  People are also riding their horses with no bridle or halter and using a stick to control the horse, which, in my professional opinion is not safe, especially on the trail. We need to tell the Emperor that what he is doing is dangerous.
  I have seen a video of a clinician, at an event, asking those participating to stand up in their stirrups, put their hands behind their backs and ask their horses for a trot. Thankfully, those participants were wearing helmets. That was a dangerous thing to ask anyone to do on horseback. Those riding in that clinic should have said “ No, are you crazy?”, but they wouldn’t have wanted to appear ignorant or unable to understand what the clinician wanted them do, so they dutifully did what they were asked.
  Sometimes at these clinics the horses aren’t being treated with kindness and sometimes it borders on abuse, but nobody is willing to stand up and voice that opinion. You know what’s coming - they don’t want to tell the Emperor that he’s naked.
  This syndrome can be found in showing circles as well, even at the Olympic level. A trainer/rider begins to consistently win and they will become very sought after because of those wins. People don’t concern themselves with the methods that person may be using which could be harming the horse - all they can see is those Blue Ribbons, Trophies and Medals. Again, people don’t want to speak out against these methods. After all, those people are the experts and they certainly wouldn’t want to question them. That would make them appear ignorant.
  When you see a person doing something that is dangerous to themselves and their horse speak up - maybe you can help that person before someone gets hurt. If you feel a horse is being abused speak up, don’t just stand idly by and let it happen. This applies to everything in life - stand up and say “That’s not right!” Go ahead - tell the Emperor he is Naked.